Odpowiedzialność karna za przestępstwa prasowe

Abstract

The Press Law Act of 26 Jan. 1984 (Dziennik Ustaw nr 5 sec. 24) came to force on 1 July 1984. The long awaited act regulates in an integrated way the legal issues in the aspect of mass media. There are also provisions introduced in the scope of responsibility for press offences. Although the notion of "press offences" is not defined in the new act, but a study of the regulation, especially of art. 53 sec. 1 indicates that two categories of offences are defined by the legislator under that notion: offences committed in press and the remaining, defined in the statutory provisions, although unnamed. The discussion is basically devoted to that second category of press offences, but the first one is also present on account of the analysis of two provisions of the Press Law (art. 41 and 42) modifying the present rules of criminal responsibility. The remaining penal provisions of the new Press Act (art. 43-49) are thoroughly studied in the article and estimated from the viewpoint of their practical application. It has to be therefore stated that a number of provisions is formulated unclearly and not precisely leaving too much room for free interpretations. Parts of the regulation are taking no account whatsoever of the reality of jurnalist's work. The analysis induces to formulation of numerous critical remarks. These are concerning both formal issues and a matter of the studied provisions. A considerable penalisation of the act is the most striking feature of the Press Law, it is on the one hand visible in a substantial number of press offences defined in the act (as many as eleven) and on the other in severe sanctions for those offences. In many cases those penalties seem to be in no proportion to the offences and sometimes they are of no avail. Except of one case all the offences are publicly persecuted. On the other hand the legislator did not see the need of introducing a legal sanction in cases of some provisions which are extremely significant from the social point of view.